Topsy Turvy
by psychedelic aya
Summary: [Fic request. Oneshot. MegxRyu.] “I fell on top of the ceiling and tables and chairs are screwed atop my head. And you're asking me if I'm alright?” Ryu was hurt. Meg had allergies. They were stuck in a weird room, and it was all Kyu's fault. Go figure.


**Authoress' Ramblings: **Hello, hello! I've been wanting to make a DDS fic for quite some time now, but I never really got inspiration until Tessa asked me to make one for her. (Thanks. :D) So here I am, with a RyuxMeg fic! At first, although I already had an idea, I couldn't quite continue it because it was so hard to write about Meg and Ryu, considering the series obviously shows that its Kyu and Meg. (Although Meg still DOES have a thing for Ryu. But, Ryu seems to care less. Mou.) But nevertheless, I hope this turns out okay. For you, Tessa!

**DiSCLAiMER:** NO. I do not own it. If I did, it wouldn't have ended so soon.

---

**Topsy Turvy  
**_By psychedelic aya  
_**Requested fic by rhapsodizing riyoko.**

_She was six years old._

"_Ryu-chan! Ryu-chan!"_

_He was the same age._

"_Ryu-chan!"_

_A little boy looked out the window, seeing the owner of the persistent voice down below, in his house's garden. "Yes?" He replied, as holding on to the window frame tightly, afraid that he might lean too much and fall. "What is it?"_

"_Can you…" She looked up at him shyly, and a small blush decorated her cheeks. "Can you play with me outside today? I'm going to the carnival, and mama said you could come!"_

_He looked thoughtful. Carnival? He had never been to one before… it sounded like fun. "Wait there, okay?" He then climbed down the stool he had been standing on to reach the window, and immediately scampered out of his room and ran to his grandfather's._

_He peeped through the small crack on the door, and saw the silhouette of his ojisan, talking on the phone yet again._

"_Grandfather said not to disturb him when he talks on the phone…"_

_A sad sigh._

"_I guess I can't go out again tod—"_

"_Ryu, is that you?" His small voice was cut off by a woman's, and the little boy had to look up to see his nanny's face clearly. Flowing red hair and once gentle eyes stared at him, incredulous. "What are you doing in front of the master's room?"_

_He shuffled his feet nervously. "I wanted to ask oji-sama if I could go out to the carnival today…"_

"_Carnival?"_

"_A-aa… but he's talking on the phone again, and I know he doesn't like me disturbing him just to ask if I could go outside, but…"_

_His nanny laughed, and bent down to take his arm. "You're finished with your daily studies, right? And homework too?"_

_A hesitant nod. "I already answered everything in the book."_

"_Good." And she began leading him down the staircase, towards the front door. "Alright then, I'll take you to the carnival if you want to."_

"_Really, Yuri-neesan?" He beamed. "Thank you! Can we go along with my friend from school? She invited me first, see…"_

_Another tender laugh. "Alright. Where is she?"_

"_She's waiting for me at the back!"_

"_What's her name?"_

"_She's…"_

---

It all began with Kyu's idiotic idea to go to the carnival.

Of course, it wasn't that all _idiotic, _but considering their situation now—it just _was_. Or at least it came to be.

Megumi groaned as she tried to sit herself up. One hand went to her neck (which currently felt as if it were dislocated, by the way, along with her other aching joints) while the other was flat on the cold floor, supporting her weight. Man, did her back hurt! And not to mention her also sore behind, which she had so conveniently landed on after falling from who-knows-where.

"Mou, Kyu no baka!" She scolded, although her words merely reached an atmosphere of and thin air. Why did she always get dragged into these stupid schemes slash accidents? (Although she really was suspicious; judging by the smirks on Kyu and Kazuma's face previously—it had to be a _scheme. _THIS. WAS. NO. _ACCIDENT_.) Why her? "Why why why?" More whining and moans, then, "Kyu is so gonna—"

"—Get murdered when we get out of here. Be my guest to do that."

Meg's eyes widened at the sound of Ryu's stoic tones coming from somewhere in front of her, fairing quite a short distance. Her heart skipped a beat in her chest; she had totally forgotten that he had fallen along with her! "Ryu-kun?" She said his name, tentatively, as a comfort. She braved the throbbing of her body and forced herself to stand up. "Where are you?"

"Somewhere behind this big gold chandelier." There was a pause, some time of composing for the both of them; then, "I'm afraid I can't stand, there's something wrong with my foot."

Immediately, worry dominated over her. Her eyes frantically searched for the so-called chandelier he was talking about (she didn't even wonder what the hell was a ceiling ornament such as that doing on the floor); and when she found it, she did not take any time to scamper towards it. She was beside him in seconds.

"Ah—" Her words got caught in her thought. Meg suddenly didn't like the way he didn't look so good—his face was as pale as snow, his clothes were torn here and there, he had scraped all over his arms, his left cheek was bleeding; and even more so that there was the fact that she would remember this for the rest of her life. Ah, the curses and wonders of photographic memory. "Ryu-kun, are you alright?" She asked, although the answer was clear.

His foot was swollen and twisted. _Ouch. _He wasn't alright, definitely.

And this, of course, gave Meg more a reason to brutally murder Kyu when they got out of this place.

Nevertheless, although Ryu was obviously hurting, he didn't answer her question. She thought that maybe he would like to stay silent (like he usually did most of the time), and just continue on observing the surroundings like she thought he was doing; but instead, in a flat tone, "My foot is sprained, Megumi."

"Ha…?" Was he being sarcastic? She really didn't know.

"…I fell on top of the ceiling and some tables and chairs are screwed atop my head."

You know, now that he mentioned that; _what the hell was the chandelier doing beside her, anyway!_

"And you're asking if I'm alright?" He gave of a sardonic chuckle. "Meg, clearly, both of us are not alright."

Okay, so sarcasm it was.

She pouted at his slight pessimism. And here she was, just worried about his welfare! "Mou, Ryu-kun, my foot isn't sprained like yours, so I was just asking—"

"Ah, but don't trouble yourself about it. I'll manage."

She really hated how he was so stubborn, sometimes. Maybe Kyu was rubbing off on him. "Demo, Ryu-kun…"

He cut her off before she could say any more. "You're hurt too, and I wouldn't want you neglecting yourself for my sake." He smiled then, even only slightly. "Maybe we don't need to kill Kyu, after all. He'll probably just hurt himself, seeing us like this."

Meg became confused. "What do you mean?"

He chuckled, "I'm pretty sure that it was Kyu, probably with the help of Kazuma and Kinta, who set us up like this." He didn't dare mention how the set-up was only for _her—_to scare her out of her wits for fun—but then he saw that Kazuma had pulled the wrong switch, and poor Megumi fell into the wrong hole. So he jumped after her. Yet again, being the modest person he was, he'd never say that. "But he'll probably regret it now, seeing as you're scathed. I'm sure he didn't mean for us to get hurt, most especially you."

At this, the girl blushed. "Huh? R-really?"

His reply was simple, only of what he knew. "Yes. Kyu worries much about you." There was a twang somewhere inside him, like an ache, and it made the throbbing of his ankle dull. But he ignored it. Then, "He's asked me to take care of you, many times."

She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Kyu? Worried about her? Impossible. "You're kidding." Meg felt flustered then, but to save her from embarrassment, she decided to pretend to be annoyed. "That baka couldn't be worried. If he was, we wouldn't be here in the first place, Ryu-kun!" Her eyes scanned the room again, as if trying to recognize their surroundings. Seeing as she found nothing familiar, she murmured in a softer voice, "Where is this place, anyway?"

"Hmmm." A short moment for looking around too, then, "This is probably one of the abandoned rooms of the carnival."

"Abandoned rooms?"

"Yes. Or maybe a room hidden to the public because it needs further development. There are a lot of those sorts in carnivals or circuses." He paused a little, his eyes still gazing around, "I think this one is abandoned, considering how tacky and unkempt the chute we fell from was."

She could only agree. That chute had scraped her many times with its loose nails and sharp metals.

"Also," She heard him continue, while he traced the floor with his hand, "It's dusty." He held out his finger to show a lot of black soot.

As if on cue, some random dust from his finger flew and irritated her nose, and Meg sneezed.

Ryu stifled a laugh. "Sorry, I didn't know you were allergic to dust."

While rubbing her nose, she replied in a small voice, "Isn't everyone?"

"Probably so, but some have it worse than others."

"And I'm one of those who—" She abruptly covered her mouth and sneezed again. "—have it worse." There was annoyed look on her face. "Mou!"

Her companion chuckled. "Gomen. This is my fault." And yet, he still seemed amused. As Meg continued rubbing her nose and sneezing, Ryu dug into his pocket and pulled out a handkerchief. "Here." He opened the hankey and covered her nose with it. "Now, blow."

And although it was childish, Meg did as she was told. She blushed as she blew into his handkerchief, feeling the warmth of his hand behind the cloth.

"There." And he wrapped it again, carefully covering the part where she had blown into. He smiled, looking at her, laughter still dancing in his eyes. "Feel better?"

Although her nose still seemed stuffy, she nodded. Of course she felt better. "Y-yeah. Thanks."

"Aa."

There was a small silence then, with both of them at a loss of something to say.

And although they seemed to be both distracted with different thoughts about their situation—they still had something similar in mind:

"I'm gonna maim Kyu when we get of out here."

Of course, Ryu would never say such a thing twice, but Meg expressed it whole-heartedly. _Again_.

And she would say it again, and again, and again… if needed due to the status of the circumstances.

"Why would they set us up anyway!" She finally exclaimed, earning a startled look from her companion. "I _never_ do anything wrong to those perverts! In fact, _I_ should be the one setting traps like this as punishment for being peeping toms!"

Somehow, Ryu couldn't help but slightly agree. _'Peeping toms indeed…' _Of course, he _never _joined them during their so-called hentai-ish escapades, but he did know that they _really_ did sneak into the girls changing room or something of the similar sort; and they did this _regularly._ Of course, Meg and the other girls would beat them up _every_ time, but that didn't stop them…

He suddenly chuckled at the thought. "I'm sure they only meant to give us a scare."

"Scare? But there's nothing scary about a _topsy turvy_ room!"

Something about her comment made Ryu's eyes widen. "Topsy turvy room…?"

Megumi nodded. "Yup. This room." She looked around, as if motioning him to do the same. "I remember visiting one at another carnival when I was a little girl, you see, and it was called the _topsy turvy _room."

"_This is called a topsy turvy room, Ryu-chan!"_

"_Wow."_

"_Sugoi, ne? But I'm kinda scared that those tables on the ceiling might fall sometime… you gotta be careful."_

Of course, when she started with the phrase "I remember…" he already immediately trusted her words, most especially when she was talking about something _visual_, something tangible. Her memory was unbeatable when it came to such, after all.

'_But,'_

He suddenly tore his eyes away from her figure, which was watching him quite intently, probably waiting for his reply.

'_She doesn't…'_

His thoughts trailed off even before they could begin.

"Ryu-kun?" Meg suddenly had a worried look on her features, wondering why he took so long to answer. "Is something wro—"

He shook his head, almost too abruptly for his own liking. "No, there's nothing wrong."

…Except of course for the fact that they were stuck in a dark and creepy room, which was not even the slightest bit close to being anything of _normalcy,_ there were alone, she was allergic to dust, his head was starting to hurt and some certain classmates would get a beating when they got out of here. And there was also the fact that his ankle throbbed like hell.

But no, besides those things, there was nothing really wrong.

A silent grimace. He didn't want her to know he was still hurting.

Meg, being the smart girl she was, didn't believe him. "Ryu-kun…" She took a sympathetic pose and looked concerned yet again; but she knew better than to push things. If Ryu wanted to keep something to himself, he had every right to do so. Everyone was entitled to privacy, after all, and she was never really the type to pry. (Although when it came to investigating… hey, that's a whole new story altogether.) Nevertheless—when it came to Ryu, she couldn't help but wonder what _exactly_ was going on through his head. Was there something he was hiding? A dark, deep secret that no one could ever know? Or maybe—

Her short reverie broke off when she felt a weight on her shoulder.

Pink orbs widened.

"Megumi."

His voice was strained, with a tired breath, as if hurt. She focused her full attention on him again, and she was able to catch a wince pass by his features. For a moment, his hold on her shoulder tightened… but only for a moment. She wanted to speak, to tell him that he didn't need to try so hard, that they could just wait until the help of their idiotic classmates came—but he cut her off again.

"Help me up."

It was a simple order, said in just above a whisper, and she obeyed. She knew that Ryu wouldn't tolerate just waiting for a rescuer to come, but she had hoped that maybe he would for the sake of his own welfare.

"Let's find a way out of here." He continued, as she balanced him, supporting his weight as they both stood. "Kyu and the others must be searching by now, but it'll be faster if we meet them."

"A-ah."

Then again, Ryu was never one who only thought of himself. Maybe he was also thinking of her and her allergy to dust (not that she minded, it wasn't _that _bad) and that's why he wanted to get out of here as soon as possible? She really didn't know…

"A-achoo!"

But she did know that another dustball would make her nose redder than it was already. Stuffier, too.

So maybe her allergy was _that_ bad. But then again, she didn't know either (until now, that is). So no big deal, right? It'll probably be gone in a few seconds…

"A-achoo!"

Or not.

He laughed, somewhat. "Allergy's back." He seemed amused. "Have you always been allergic to dust _this _badly, Megumi?"

She shook her head. Through a squeaky voice, "No. In fact, I only had it now. I've always sneezed at dust particles, but my nose didn't used to get stuffy like this…" She sniffed and scratched her nose. "Mou…"

Since one arm was around her shoulder, he used the other to grab his handkerchief from his pocket again. "Use my hankey again."

"But I couldn't—"

Ryu pushed it into her hands. "I insist. I wouldn't want you to be sick tomorrow because of me and dust allergies." He smiled, as if amused. She tried to retort, but then, he added uncharacteristically, "And I'm sure Kyu wouldn't want that too."

"Kyu?" Another sneeze. She idly wondered why he was frequently mentioning how Kyu liked her. "I'm sure he wouldn't care less…"

He decided not to reply anything to that, for the fear of saying more than needed. "Hn."

Besides, something inside him stirred that he could almost consider the cuts and bruises around his body dull.

His ankle was another thing though…

He watched her blow her nose for a bit, using his handkerchief in the end. When she seemed done, "Are you ready? Let's search for a door leading to the outside. These types of rooms usually connect to the security or maintenance rooms, and those usually lead to a main corridor or something that leads to the outside…"

Meg nodded. "Alright." She searched around again, looking for the sort of rooms that Ryu said; but her eyes already squinted at its smallest at what seemed to be a mere blur of gray and black. "This'd be much easier if there were brighter lights…"

"Aa. But we'll have to make do. Our vision will adjust to the environment momentarily. Its good there's still even _some_ light from the shaft we fell from…"

"I guess…"

A short pause, then he started again, "Let's just walk around and see if we find something."

"But your foot…"

"I'll be fine with your support."

It was only when he made that passing comment did she realize how close they were. He was leaning on her, after all, and his arm was around her shoulder while hers was around his back. Her little girlish mind did summersaults somewhere out there, and her stomach felt as if she had eaten butterflies for lunch.

Meg wanted to blush then, and if she did, she would've been suddenly thankful for the lack of light. Because she was sure she would've been even redder than the hue of her hair.

But her practical mind overwhelmed her dreaming one, and so not even a single tinge of crimson tainted her cheeks. (Okay, so maybe there was a _little_. But only a little. It could've been worse…)

She needed to prioritize getting out of here first, so that Ryu's ankle could be looked at ASAP. Besides, such a shabby place was not suitable for her giddy fantasies. Those thoughts were better off when she was at home, in a nice bed, with no dust and only warm sheets and an older sister to gush to…

"Uh, Megumi? We can start walking around now…"

"Oh! Oh yeah, right."

"We should probably start with the left corner there." The room was pretty big, so although neither could _clearly_ see the left corner he was talking about, they somehow knew it was there. "If I'm correct, we're only one floor underground, and I think I saw a staircase going down somewhere in that direction before we entered the building."

She held on tighter his arm around her and nodded. "Okay."

And so they walked onwards, oddly keeping each other company—

"Watch out for the lightbulbs."

_Crack. _"Eheh, I think I just stepped on one…"

"Don't trip over the ceiling fan…"

"That was a ceiling fan?"

"Watch your head, the table's pretty tall."

"I hope it doesn't fall when we're walking underneath it…"

"This room has an interesting architecture…"

"I'm getting dizzy just looking at it, though."

They conversed to pass the time, to keep each other busy—to let their minds forget about the aches and pains of their bodies and the fatigue of their mind.

Meg glanced offhandedly at her companion as they struggled to reach their destination. Seeing him flinch every now and then made her worried, and so, "…Does your ankle still hurt?"

Ryu shook his head. "Not as much as awhile ago."

"Are you sure…?"

"Aa. Don't worry about me, Megumi."

"But I can't help it! Mou, this is Kyu's fault!"

"But if he were here with us, you'd be worried about him too, right?"

"No!"

"Really?"

A pause, then a stutter of, "I-I guess so…"

He forced a smile. "See?" He knew the initial reaction was to chuckle, but he didn't. "If we were both here, you'd worry about both of us. You worry too much that you forget about yourself. When in fact you're in a far worse condition than me…"

"But these are only cuts and a few bruises! They'll heal with time. Your ankle—"

"It's the same. It'll heal with time, too."

(He quite wasn't sure what he meant when he said that, but decided not to think on it further.)

She stared then, unable to say anything else. Why did he refuse her concern? "Ryu-kun…" A hesitant sigh, "If you say so…"

Silence.

And when a few moments seemed like _forever,_ and still, they were walking; Meg felt relieved to hear Ryu suddenly say,

"I think I see a door…"

She blinked her eyes into focus. Being in the dark so long affected her vision, it seemed. But it was worth it, for lo and behold, "It's a door!" She wanted to laugh. "A door…"

Beside her, she felt Ryu nod. She _felt _it, not _saw_ it—because she didn't turn to look at him anyhow and yet she sensed the bobbing of his head up and down, as well as the tickling feel of his hair brushing against her cheek. "We can only hope that it's the right one."

She smiled then, feeling a little better already. "I'm sure it's the right one, since you said it. Your deductions are rarely ever wrong—"

_Thud._

Her mouth hung open with the unfinished sentence, and she could only stare blankly while her ears strained to hear the sound. And again—

_Thud._

Ryu arched an eyebrow. "What is that?"

_Thud._

"It's coming from outside the door…"

_Thud._

They looked at each other, eyes locking, before nodding in understanding.

_Thud._

Both teens leaned in closer, as if trying to strain their ears to hear whatever that sound was.

And again.

_Thud._

A moment's pause…

"Kinta, you idiot! Why are you trying to ram it? It says _pull_, not _push_, for goodness's sake!"

"What? You could've told me that earlier, Kazuma! Now my shoulder's all sore…"

"Stop bickering and open the door already! Ryu and Meg are in there!"

"Awww, Kyu's worried over his girlfriend!"

"Shut up!"

Ryu could nearly laugh as the voices of their classmates were replaced by the clicking of an unlocking doorknob. "It's them." He told Meg, as slightly moving his head to look at her. "They came for us."

She nodded, smiling. "Yeah." She supported him as they walked a little closer to the door, and when they were finally just in front of it, it abruptly opened.

Kyu came rushing in, looking as if he were being chased by a fifty foot giant. "MEG!" He immediately exclaimed, the panic suddenly evident in his face. Kazuma and Kinta were right behind him, also looking the same way. "Ryu!"

"Mou, Kyu, I think you broke my eardrums…" Megumi complained, as wincing while he shouted at the top of his lungs. "We're right here, you know…"

Kyu looked as if heaven had just descended on earth when he finally saw his two friend's faces; (which were just in front of him, actually). "Meg! Ryu! You're alright!"

A small nod. "Barely, but we managed." Ryu replied, with a sudden smile of his own. "Glad you finally came."

"We would've made it earlier," Kazuma muttered while rolling his eyes, "If Kinta had pulled instead of pushed. He was trying to ram into the door."

Meg giggled. "Yeah, we heard."

Kinta then glared at the child genius and huffed. "How was I supposed to know that little text said _pull_? It was barely readable."

A shrug from the prodigy. "It was in **bold** red letters. Maybe you're just blind."

"Why you—"

Kyu sighed and got in between them. "Guys, this is no time to fight!" He stared at them with a knowing look before glancing back to Meg and Ryu. In a guilty and worried tone, "Are any of you hurt badly?"

Megumi nodded and immediately motioned to Ryu. "Ryu-kun's ankle is sore and he can't walk properly. We have to have it checked in the clinic as soon as possible!"

A nod. "Okay. Kinta?"

The older man nodded. "I'm on it." And immediately, he stepped forward and carefully took Ryu's body and supported it just like Meg did.

"Thanks." Ryu murmured, looking to Meg instead of Kinta, while the transfer was taking place. "You have to have your wounds treated too, Megumi."

It was Kyu who replied to that. Proudly, "Don't worry! I'll take her to the carnival's first aid myself."

"Idiot." Meg suddenly felt a strong urge to hit the young detective on the head. "How can you be so proud of taking responsibility of me when this is ALL YOUR FAULT in the first place!"

"Er…"

"Kyu no baka!" And _bam! _Something connected with the boy's head.

"Aw, that hurt, Meg!"

"It was supposed to!"

"Geez…"

Ryu watched their exchange then, amusement in his eyes but an unexplainable pain in his insides.

Something about Meg and Kyu made the throbbing of his ankle just subside into a mere dull ache.

---

"_What's her name?"_

"_She's…"_

"_Hm? I didn't hear you…"_

"_She's Megumi."_

"_Megumi-chan, eh? I'll have to remember that for you."_

"_Yeah."_

"_So that when you're older…"_

"_Don't worry. I'll remember too."_

---

**Authoress' Notes: **WAH! Gomen, gomen, Tessa, for making it so late! I know I said Wednesday, but its Friday… so its two days late… (actually, it's a bunch of _weeks _late… WAAAAH! Gomen, gomen! But here it is, finally! Phew! I hope I did okay with it. This wasn't my original draft, I actually added and removed and changed a _lot_ of things… but oh well. I hope its okay for you! Weeee! And that's my first ever requested fic. I hope I won't take so long if someone else asks… eheh.

Sorry if it got kind of confusing, but this story supports how I think Meg and Ryu knew each other as childhood friends. Miss Yuri (Ryu's caretaker in the anime, dunno if she's in the manga…) calls Meg "Little Megumi" in the English version in Animax, see, and in Japanese that's "Megumi-chan". And "-chan", as we know, is only to be attached to childhood friends or close friends or someone younger of the sort. Also, Meg and Ryu always have odd thoughts that they oddly recognize each other in the anime… so there. I wonder.

Smile, Jesus loves you!

You can run away in madness now.


End file.
